At least four people including a child were killed as arsonists set fire to the Dhaka-bound Mohanganj Express train in the capital's Tejgaon Railway station area early today, just an hour before today’s hartal called by BNP and likeminded opposition parties began.

Three carriages of the train were set on fire around 5:04 am, Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters media cell, confirmed. 

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On information, three firefighting units from Tejgaon Fire Station rushed to the spot and tame the blaze around 6:45 am, he said. 

They recovered the bodies of the victims from one of the compartments, added the officer. 

Of the deceased, two were identified as Nadira Akhter Popy, 35, and her three-year-old son, Yasin, said Md Ferdous, inspector of Kamalapur Railway Police Station.

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Later, the bodies were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsies, added the officer.